No project will be abandoned – Akindolire

…Assures Ondo residents of more dividends of democracy

By Precious Oluwole

Ondo State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr Laolu Akindolire has assured the residents of the state that there shall be no abandoned project by Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa.

Akindolire gave the assurance during an interview with journalists, where he also disclosed that residents would witness more dividends of democracy in the second year of the administration.

Speaking on meeting projected revenues and expeditions, Akindolire said “We saw that we are not able to realize the expected inflow, that is, revenue from both FAAC receipts and the IGR. More importantly, we are not able to assess funds expected from international development organizations as budgeted. So as a result of this, we had to review the budget slightly, from the sum of N698 billion Naira to N498 million.

“So at the end of the day, the budget performed, capital budget performed almost about 50% and recurring performed about 65-66%”.

According to him, a lot has been done in the infrastructural sector and can be measured by the number of roads, like Akure-Idore dualization, Akungba-Ikare-Akoko dualization.

“A lot of money has gone into this. And the good thing about it is that the government is meeting its payment obligations to the contractors. So there is no fear”.

He opined that a lot of provisions have been made and there is no fear of having abandoned projects, as in the past. “In the present administration, the government is doing very well in the area of meeting contractors’ obligations.

” We have the input into the budget. It’s not just the government doing what it likes. We engage people. We traveled around the three central districts of the states. We went to Ikare-Akoko, we went to Owo, we went to Okitipupa.

“We went around the states to engage all the stakeholders, because our budget is people-friendly. The budget is for the people, not the people in government itself. But for the people, they are the stakeholders. They are the ones the government is servicing. Hence, we have the buying of the various groups.

Akindolire assured that people are going to see more dividends of democracy in this second year, adding that the present government is one that is people-focused and determined to make life better for the people of Ondo State.